


Monsters 2.0

by callmesometime



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Hiding, M/M, Pining, Runaway, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26889142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmesometime/pseuds/callmesometime
Summary: After the death of his mom, Neil meets Andrew.or; Andrew meets someone to save him. Neil meets someone who saves him.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 18
Kudos: 111





	1. Too Close for Comfort

At first, Nathaniel didn’t feel anything. There was a numbing spreading from the base of his head to the tips of his toes. 

Mom.

He sat up quickly, breath being forced out of his chest. The light was too bright and caused him to blink again and again, forcing his irises to dilate, wind blowing something in them. Dust? That wouldn’t be good. His eyes finally adjusted and he recognized his surroundings and memories from early this morning rushed back in.

Firstly, his mom was dead. The smell of her flesh burning, the feeling of it ripping from the seat as Nathaniel peeled her out of the car, stuck to the backs of his eyelids and the inside of his ears. He could remember pushing the sand back further and further, collecting pebbles under his fingernails, until a hole was created that he could stuff her in. His mom. The only person who has ever put his life first. The only person who has protected him from that man. She was his saving grace and backbone, the only reason he continued moving each morning. Without her, what would he do? How could he breathe? He could feel himself spiralling so he moved on. 

Secondly, he was on a bench by the beach. He must have passed out after burying her. The memories rushed back in – smoke, leather, waves – but he forced them back out. He could remember feeling completely numb as he crawled away from her shallow grave. The car needed to be dealt with, he needed to continue, push on, get over it. He knew he had been hit, felt the concussion coming while they were driving into California. But he was worried. His mom was moaning pitifully in the seat next to him. He had never heard her make any noise when she got hurt. Mary was the strongest women he knew, clenching her teeth and her fist throughout life, refusing to let people see her weak and soft spots. Not even her own son. She was hurt and he could do nothing but watch as she bled and convulsed until it all got quiet again. His concussion could wait.

Thirdly, there was a boy. There was a boy sitting on a bench across the street from Nathaniel. He had bleach blonde hair, hazel irises crashing into Nathaniel from across the street. His hair flopped over his forehead, hiding his eyebrows but not the crease building between. He seemed to be a scientist and Nathaniel was his new specimen, his new experiment. Nathaniel didn’t like that, the feeling of being dissected. Nathaniel straightened his clothes out, not knowing how long the boy had been watching him but feeling uncomfortable and scared. This is the first person he has met since his mother died. The first interaction he has to deal with on his own. 

Could the boy smell the ashes of Mary?

The boy kept staring, flicking his eyes all over Nathaniel. He took in the flannel that was pushed up Nathaniel’s arms, showing off small scars littered all over his forearms. A new black eye bloomed across the right side of Nathaniel’s face, his lip burning from the hit it suffered two days ago. The jeans were obviously too short for Nathaniel, showing thick black socks tucked into black sneakers.

Nathaniel felt dissected. He decided he better collect his things and get moving, not wanting to figure out why this blonde was so interested. He went to grab his bag and realized it was gone. His heart hit the bench, stretching his vision thin, anxiety causing him to nearly fall over. He hurriedly checked all areas around him before glancing at the boy across the street.

There it was.

His bag was tucked under the boy’s left arm, all the contents apparently still there but it was hard to tell, he didn’t carry much. Nathaniel barely paid attention to the car speeding in front of him, horn blaring, as he bolted from his bench. Instead, he focused on the raised eyebrow of the boy in front of him, a smirk barely seen on his lips.

“That’s mine,” Nathaniel said, voice coming out harsh from all the crying and screaming he had done the past couple of days, pointing his finger at the bag. He felt like a child but he couldn’t risk the safety of this boy, he couldn’t risk another injury to his already damaged body. He had a water bottle in his bag, if this boy would just give it to him he could take a drink and regain some confidence, maybe enough to fight him off so Nathaniel could make a quick getaway. 

“Name?”

“No,” Nathaniel said, staring the boy down. His voice was deeper than Nathaniel expected it to, making Nathaniel double guess the young age he had predicted in his mind. Probably Nathaniel’s senior, only by a couple years. On closer inspection, his build was thicker than Nathaniel expected as well, making an easy exit seem impossible. The blonde raised his eyebrow even higher before standing. He came up right underneath Nathaniel’s chin, glaring him down and pressing the bag even further to his side.

“Then no bag,” he smiled, bringing his hand up to reveal a small blade. Nathaniel was off his game, he never even noticed the knife before it was too close to his throat. Nathaniel’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach for the second time that day. He needed a moment.

Okay, if this boy had looked through his bag then he would see a stalker-like album of Exy stars, Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama. In the back of that book, he would find all of the locations of Nathaniel and his mother’s money. He would find the contacts Nathaniel needed to provide him with new identification, a new name and face to allow him to settle, if only for a bit. He would find everything. He would not simply ask for Nathaniel’s name if he knew this much. At least that’s what Nathaniel banked on. 

He couldn’t see what’s inside.

“Neil,” Nathaniel – no, Neil – breathed. Okay, he could work with this name. It was close to his birthname so easier to lie about, something that his mother always taught him. The closer to the truth, the easier the lie. “Can I have my bag back now?”

“Okay runaway,” the blonde said. He held the bag out to Neil but kept a firm hand on the strap. Neil’s heartbeat was erratic, rising at the nickname and continue to rise when the blonde leaned in closer. He tried not to show his anxiety, forcing his breathing to stay even and face to remain emotionless. “We can call you Neil, if you’d like.”

“Whatever,” Neil tugged on the strap again, the boy not letting go.

“My name is Andrew and you are going to help me get out of here,” the boy smiled slightly, the emotion not reaching his eyes. Neil’s urge to leave was temporarily distracted by his curiosity. What is this boy talking about?

“How do you expect me to do that?”

“Well,” Andrew slowly released the bag and stepped away from Neil, “with all the I.D.’s and money I found in that cool little binder of yours, I assume you know how to disappear.”

“What do you want?” Neil growled out, tightening his grip on his bag further, immediately untrusting of this boy. Invading his space and immediately having the upper hand in their weird standoff. He knew Neil, at least the important bits. Neil only knew a name, a name that might not be real.

“Like I said, I need your help.”

“I can’t help you.”

“Sure you can,” Andrew kept his distance but made it apparent that Neil was not going to get away from this. “I need to disappear and you need to help me.”

“Why should I?”

“Because,” Andrew’s emotionless eyes drug Neil further in, “I saw you burning that car…and the body inside.”

Neil’s breathe left in one big gust. His knees hit the pavement before he could think, he was trying to suck air in but, to no avail. The world slowed and he was back in the sand, blackness surrounding him, light only hitting the bones pushing from his mom’s burnt flesh. His nose burned from the fire and smell of burning flesh. How could he be so foolish? The first thing he did on his own and he screwed up so horribly. How could he have let someone see that? No one should’ve seen that.

No one should’ve been there.

“Hey!” There was a kick to his knee, jerking him back, his butt hitting the sidewalk harshly. He was blinded when he looked up, the sun positioned over Andrew’s shoulder, “Count. One, two, three…”

Regardless of how he felt towards Andrew, he counted. He closed his eyes and said each number to himself slowly. He made it to forty-six before he could finally breathe at a somewhat regular pace. When he opened his eyes again, Andrew was sitting beside him on the pavement, not touching, not looking, just waiting, eyes focused on the waves in front of them. Neil looked that way, too. 

Once again, Neil asked, “What do you want?”

“I can’t stay here,” Andrew said. He didn’t go any further so Neil looked at him. There was an emotion in his hazel eyes. It was fleeting but Neil has always had to pick up on facial features. It’s how he survived.

Andrew looked terrified.

Neil breathed in and out a couple more times, focusing on the harsh side profile of Andrew. Without his mom, he wouldn’t survive much longer. He’s not stupid, he knows this. However, he couldn’t stop trying. To give up would be to complete dishonor all of the pain and fight his mother had went through. To give up would be even more damning than burning his mom’s body. 

Andrew was the closest thing to an ally he had right now. Rather than calling the police when he saw the horrific act Neil was committing, he waited. He stole Neil’s bag and searched it, breaking the slight trust that may have been there, but he didn’t rat Neil out and he gave the bag back, even after knowing all the cash that was inside.

He’s already saved Neil one time. He’s already put his trust in Neil, for whatever reason. So…

“Fine,” Neil sighed. Andrew looked slightly surprised but covered that up quickly. “You will follow my instructions, though.”

Andrew studied him. He took in all the scars on his face, the dusty grey contacts, the horribly dyed hair. He weighed his options before huffing out a big long sigh.

“Whatever.”


	2. Heavier Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> andrew and neil get where they're going - at least for now? maybe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for enjoying this work and leaving comments and kudos!! I know I said that I would try and keep updates to Sundays but that may be too strict of a time frame. I will update weekly but I am a full time student so sticking to one day will be tricky. I have a twitter account you can follow me on where I will let you know when updates are coming. follow if you would like or just follow me here! thanks again for the support and I hope you like this chapter!!!!

The bell above the diner door rang as Andrew followed Neil in. They had got on a bus and rode it for three hours before needing to stop. Andrew was apparently prone to hangry fits and Neil needed to collect his thoughts and figure out where they were headed. Opening his binder in the diner would be a death wish but he had a map and most of the information from the binder was burned to the back of his eyelids, anyways. 

“Hi! We’ll be right with you, sit wherever,” a waitress gestured to the mostly empty tables, continuing on her way. Andrew put his head down and headed to a table with a view of the windows at the front of the diner. He hadn’t said anything since they got on the bus, elbowing Neil repeatedly until Neil heard his stomach growl and decided to get them off the bus. 

Andrew sat with his back to the wall, facing the windows. Neil hated having his back to the entrance but let Andrew sit there, not wanting to fight. Instead, he pushed his back against the wall so he could see the front door. He yawned into his hand, the need for sleep causing him to almost pass out but they had a couple more hours of travel until he could rest peacefully.

“What could I get you to drink?” the waitress asked, smiling politely at them both.

“Water, please,” Neil said while digging his map out.

“Chocolate milk,” Andrew said, making eye contact with the waitress before flipping open his menu. She nodded and walked off to get them their drinks.

By the time Andrew placed his order, Neil had a rough outline for what they needed to do for the rest of the day.

“So,” Neil spread the map out on the table, beginning to point out the route they were travelling on to Andrew, “the next bus will leave in forty-five minutes and we’ll ride that for five hours. That will get us into Arizona where I can restock and get some help,” he gave Andrew a pointed look that went ignored. Andrew observed the route, keeping his hands in his lap under the table. He stared for a minute more before nodding and looking up.

“So we’re staying on the west coast?” Andrew shifted his weight, alerting Neil to his uneasiness. Neil paused and observed the blank look on Andrew’s face, searching for anything to hint at what the problem was. He came back with nothing so he nodded.

“At least for a while,” he said, folding the map back up. He looked around the diner, noting the distance between them and the other patrons before pointedly looking back at Andrew, “Do you need to keep that thing?”

“What thing?” Andrew’s top lip lifted a bit before he pretended to be shocked, “Oh, you mean the knife?” 

“Here you go, sir,” the waitress was there before Neil was ready, causing him to jump back. She didn’t seem to notice, moving on to her other tables. However, Andrew noticed and paused, staring Neil down.

“Yes,” Andrew nodded and picked up his fork, “I need it.”

Neil watched Andrew take his first bite. He didn’t go into more detail, not explaining why he needed it. Neil thought about pushing before shrugging. This was not a battle he felt like having currently.

“Well, we need to get something better than that rugged thing,” Neil nodded at Andrew’s pockets, rolling his eyes at Andrew shoving a big pancake piece into his mouth. “That thing is too rusted and dull not to mention bulky. We’ll find something easier to handle and quick to draw.”

Andrew stared at Neil for a second, a look like shock passing behind his hazel eyes before shrugging and continuing to eat. 

They didn’t talk again until they were on the back of the bus. Andrew pushed his small bag into Neil’s lap.

“What?” Neil asked, looking down at the bag.

“Sleep,” Andrew demanded. Neil started to argue but Andrew cut him off, “You are practically dead on your feet. You passed out pretty early this morning but were only out for an hour or so. If you don’t sleep now, we won’t make much ground work when we get to Arizona.”

Neil shivered at the thought of Andrew’s presense the night before but he decided not to argue. The likelihood of him actually being able to sleep was slim but he would take what he could get.

“Fine, wake me when you want to sleep,” Neil said, stuffing Andrew’s bag against the side of the bus, forming a pillow for Neil to rest his head.

\-----------------------------

“Jesus!” Neil shot up, hand reaching under his pillow, looking for the gun that should be there. A hand pressed on the back of his neck and a voice whispered in his ear, “Quiet.”

Neil automatically quieted his breathing, giving himself a minute to take in his surroundings. He was on a bus headed for Arizona, a strange boy was sitting beside him and holding his head down. Neil found comfort in this small contact before pushing Andrew’s arm off. 

“What happened?” Neil asked, looking toward the front of the bus and noticing how dark it was outside the bus windows, “What time is it?”

“The driver made a sharp turn and it shocked the idiot in front of us,” Andrew said, staring at a man that sat two rows ahead of them. The guy didn’t notice so Andrew looked back and said, “we’ll get off at the next stop.”

“You let me sleep for five hours?” Neil was shocked that he could sleep peacefully for that long. Even being passed out last night, he remembers his dream-self running away from a wide-jawed Nathan, crying for his mom that was stuck inbetween the monsters teeth. 

“I didn’t let you do anything,” Andrew leaned back in his seat after picking his bag up off the floor, crossing his arms over his chest, “You told me to wake you when I wanted to sleep. I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t wake you.”

Neil sighed before stretching out the muscles in his shoulders. He needed to find an abandoned building when they got there, needed to avoid the main roads. He didn’t know the experience Andrew had with sleeping somewhere decrepit but he could guess the reaction Andrew would have. 

He was willing to gut Neil within minutes of talking, they would be fine. 

“Are you gonna change your color again?” Andrew asked, looking Neil directly in the eyes before glancing at the dark brown curls on Neil’s forehead. Neil nodded.

“You should too, if anyone’s looking for you.”

“No one’s looking for me,” Andrew promised. He looked back at the front of the bus and they stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.

When the bus finally stopped, they were outside of Phoenix. Walking straight would take them into the city so Neil led them to the left. The streets quieted down and houses became further and further apart. Before long, they stumbled upon an abonded marble factory. There were marbles crushed everywhere, forming something like gravel which would help alert Neil if anyone was around the building.

“We’ll stay here for the night and find something else in the morning. I have a couple of calls to make and then we can find something better,” Neil said, leading the way past the main gate and into a side door. Andrew didn’t say anything until they reached a room Neil approved of (first floor, one window, only door to the room hidden in a small hallway: perfect).

“We shouldn’t stay in abandoned buildings.”

Neil turned around to look at Andrew, brows creasing in the middle of his forehead. “I told you that, if you wanted to follow me, you follow my rules. If you don’t want to stay, leave.”

“Listen,” Andrew sighed and dropped his bag on the ground, pressing his back up against the wall with the window. Neil took a deep breathe, not wanting to hear anything Andrew had to say. Neil and his mom stayed in abandon buildings to avoid leaving a paper trail. No one had ever found them at their own hideout except once in England and that was because someone had a mouth too big for their head.

Neil remembered the blood hitting his face as Mary shot that man.

“If we want to stay here, it would be better for us to be as legit as we can,” Andrew began, hand already up to stop Neil from interrupting, “I’m not saying we use our real names, most of the time you can even get out of providing a photo I.D., if you know the right people. I’m not saying that we need to plant roots, it would just be smarter to have an address, at least. Maybe even phones.”

“You’re expecting mail? A call?” Neil asked, raising his eyebrow. Andrew gave him a dead look, “I have always stayed in abandoned buildings. It can get tricky but it’s safer than leaving a paper trail for people to follow.”

“Pay with cash,” Andrew suggested, “this town may be small but money is money. People won’t ask questions if we don’t give them a reason to. I am older than you, we can say that you’re living with me. Say we’re cousins or something, I don’t care. It’s easier to stay under the radar if we have a good cover story. Including parents won’t work but saying we’re family will allow us to live together without suspicion and keep us out of a quickly collapsing abandoned building.”

Neil thought for a minute, looking away from Andrew. It wasn’t a terrible idea, at least it didn’t scare like terrible ideas normally did. Him and Mary had many cover stories for how they got where they were, fashioning accents and hairstyles to be as discreet as possible, even had an address when they lived with the Hatfords’. Every possible bad outcome just seemed so much closer when his mom wasn’t there to dig her nails into his arm and force him to continue, to go along with whatever plan she made. He sighed.

“We’ll figure that out later. For now, let’s just get through the night.”


	3. New Titles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they find their fake names, lies are told, so are truths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I missed last weeks update!! I have been a bit busy with school so if it happens, please just give me a little time. Thanks again for the kudos and comments, I really appreciate it! Make sure to let me know what you think of this chapter!

Ash stretched it’s arms towards the sky, screams coming from inside the burning car. Nathaniel took a deep breath and couldn’t let it out. He punched himself in the stomach, trying to force the breath from his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. Hands, ashy hands reached out towards him, dragging him closer and closer to the car. He tried to scream but the ash reached its fingers down his throat, clogging his airways and refusing to let sound out. He heard someone calling out to him but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. His mom was burning and he was being choked by the ash of her.

“Neil!”

Neil struck out to the foot kicking at his thigh, his other hand reaching under his pillow for a gun that was buried in the sandy shore of a California beach.

“Breathe, idiot,” hazel stared back at him, face completely emotionless, leg retracting from Neil’s thigh so Andrew could rest his arm on it. 

Neil sat up and started to count down from ten in all the languages he knew, placing his head between his knees. Over and over, he slowly started to catalogue his current health and surroundings. The busted lip and bruised ribs were healing slowly, causing his breathe to catch but he pushed through. His head was pounding and his face was wet, tears making the dust from the floor turn to mud on his cheeks. 

He kept counting.

The floor was sturdy under him, warm air pushing in through the open window. He looked up and saw that Andrew was out of arms reach now, scooting back against the wall Neil last saw him leaning against. They stared at each other while Neil continued counting. From across the room, Andrew looked solid. His broad shoulders were pushed up against the wall, hand rested on his propped up knee, chin tucked under so he was staring at Neil through his lashes. He scoffed but kept eye contact until Neil finally broke it.

“I’m sorry. You can go to sleep now, I’ll keep a look out,” Neil whispered, pushing his shaking hands through his hair.

“I hate that word, let’s not say it again,” Neil looked back up at Andrew but his expression was the same. “Also, I am not sleeping in this death trap. Let’s start moving.”

Andrew walked out of the room, Neil watching him leave. He recognized this for what it was. Andrew was allowing him some privacy to collect himself; mourn if that’s what he wanted to do. Neil had no time to do that, though. The last thing his mom would want is for him to sit and cry over her. She would want him to find an alias and quickly. Neil sighed again, pushing the nightmare as far away from his mind as he could.

Last night, he stayed up and made a rough schedule for what they would do today. Neil had only one contact near here, one that he’d never met but that Mary trusted. Andrew pressured Neil into getting cell phones, disposable ones of course, so that was also something they needed to do. The living arrangements were still debated between the two of them, Neil wanted to find somewhere to squat while Andrew was wanting to plant some loose roots.

Neil couldn’t think of that right now, too much at once was never good.

Instead, he changed out of his old shirt, brushing it over his face to get the dust off, stuffing the clothes back in his bad, checking it twice, before he met Andrew outside to start walking.

They caught a bus and it took them twenty minutes and a short walk to find that music shop Mary spoke of, it’s sign chipped and old, the building looking abandoned if not for the small neon sign in the window saying they were open. 

“Let me talk to him first,” Neil said. Andrew shrugged and they entered the store, Andrew splitting off and Neil heading for the greying man at the register, adjusting the bag on his shoulder. No one else was in the store, making Neil a bit more relaxed but not by much. This was the first time Neil was getting I.D.’s without the help of Mary. He would have to exude the same amount of knowledge as Mary always seemed to have, looking this man in the eye and telling him exactly who he was. Andrew couldn’t hear that. Couldn’t know him yet. But this man…Neil couldn’t afford to waste time looking for someone else to help them.

“Peter Frank,” Neil said to the man, head held at a respectable bow. The man tilted his head at the name, clearly not wanting to confirm his name to a complete stranger, “Nathaniel Wesninski.”

The man’s eyes widened before flickering around the room, clearly looking for Mary. After not seeing her, his widened eyes came back to Neil before closing, nodding to himself.

“What can I do for you, boy?” The accent was something Neil was familiar with, already putting it on to talk to the man. Most of Mary’s contacts were from Europe, accents thick and telling. Neil filtered his out because it would draw more attention but it was always a comfort to fall back in his mother’s accent.

“I need two new cards,” Neil said. The man raised his dusty brows, looking over Neil’s shoulder. Neil felt Andrew before he knew he was there. It irritated him to know how easily Andrew just snuck up on him. Peter looked back at Neil.

“Names?” 

“Neil Josten,” Neil had thought of a last name the night before, trying to find something that blended really well. Peter nodded before looking at Andrew. Neil turned when he noticed Andrew was quite.

“What?” Neil asked, looking for a tell in Andrew’s face.

Andrew stared back at Neil for a moment, eye contact intense, “Drew Josten,” Andrew said, looking back at Peter. Neil was a bit annoyed with the choice in last name but didn’t say anything, willing to give Andrew the benefit of the doubt this time. 

Peter nodded, “Let’s take a picture and then give me two hours. There’s a burger place down the road, my sister owns it. Tell her your Mary’s kid, she won’t ask questions. Stay there and then come back.”

Neil nodded, pressing the first half of the money into Peter’s palm. They walked back to the employees room, a camera pointed at a white back ground. Neil went before Andrew and then they were leaving the store, Andrew trailing behind. 

The boys stayed quiet on the walk to Jo-Ann’s Diner, Neil not wanting to ask his questions just yet. Peter’s sister didn’t ask any question when Neil said his mom’s name, only looking around for a ghost and then nodding sadly before bringing two waters and burgers back to the table. She looked at Neil for a moment before ruffling his hair, Neil forcing himself to stay still.

“I’m sorry, boy,” Neil nodded, looking down at the food. She patted his shoulder before walking away. Andrew said nothing while Neil took a swig of his water, trying to get the smell of the woman’s strong perfume off him.

“Why Josten?” Neil asked, picking at his fries, not really in the mood for food. Andrew, however, dug in and made Neil wait while he finished chewing his first bite.

“I told you, it would be an easier story,” Andrew and Neil had stayed up last night, not talking much but Neil recalled Andrew saying something about pretending to be cousins. Neil sighed before nodding, it would be an easier cover as to why they would always be together and show up in town at the same time, Neil supposed. Also, why they looked nothing alike.

Too late for hair dye, Neil supposed.

“Okay, then why Drew?” Neil asked, “Isn’t that a bit too close to your real name?”

“I’m not running from someone who is looking too hard,” Andrew said, taking three fries and stuffing them in his mouth. Neil nodded, willing to stop the conversation but apparently Andrew had more to say.

“Ditch the contacts.”

“No,” Neil said, sitting up straighter, pushing his bag in front of his stomach, an immediate tell of secrecy, he knew. This was just not something he was willing to do.

“Neil,” Andrew sat his burger down, wiping his hand on a napkin and looking at Neil, “Truth for a truth, is what you’re running so serious that you can’t – “

“Yes,” Neil cut him off, “Yes, it’s that serious.”

Andrew stared at Neil for a minute. Neil wasn’t going to let this go and, as stubborn as he was, apparently neither was Andrew, pausing to give Neil a incredulous look. 

He must’ve read the fear on Neil’s face though, because he nodded before saying, “Okay. I’ve got a debt, don’t keep me waiting.”

Neil was confused until he remembered Andrew’s ‘truth for a truth’ comment. He smiled to himself before taking a bite of the burger.

They said nothing as they waited for the hours to pass, only a couple of customers coming in and out of the diner. They walked back to the music store, Neil trading the rest of the money for the two shiny I.D.’s.

Before they left, Peter stopped Neil with a hand.

“Call me if you need anything,” he tipped his head down, raising his brows, “anything, okay?”

Neil nodded before meeting with Andrew and leaving the music store. Now, to Neil’s personal hell.

The mall.


End file.
